Stay on target

When I visited the Valve office two years to get briefed on Steam Machines (remember those?) the first thing that struck me was how much Dota merchandise there was everywhere. This was the company behind original PC gaming masterpieces like Half-Life and Portal and Counter-Strike, shooters that changed the medium forever through gameplay and narrative innovations. And here they were focusing all their attention on a sequel to a mod of someone else’s game.

But that sequel to a mod continues to make all the money in the world. Between Dota, VR headsets, and being a de facto monopoly for digital PC gaming distribution, there’s no need for Valve to ever make another new real video game again aside from Dota-themed Hearthstone rip-offs (to continue the theme of cribbing from Blizzard). We’ve all known for a long time in our hearts that Half-Life 3 is never coming, but now we can find peace and move on by reading what the plot of Half-Life 2: Episode 3 would have been.

This leak comes from Marc Laidlaw, a writer who used to work at Valve drafting scripts for the Half-Life series. In January 2016 Laidlaw left the developer due to his “age” and desire to write original material. But we suspect he, along with Valve’s other recently departed writers, really just saw the writing on the wall that Valve just had no more use for his storytelling talents.

In a post called “Epistle3,” referencing Valve’s forbidden number as well as the Biblical nature of this reveal for long-suffering Half-Life fans, we finally learn the next chapter in Gordon Freeman’s battle against in the Combine after the cliffhanger of Half-Life 2: Episode 2 in 2007. In fact, the post is written in-character as Dr. Freeman himself, famous for never actually speaking in the series. There are also plenty of meta references to the current halted state of the series and Laidlaw’s role in it.

Here’s an excerpt:

“Dearest Player,

I hope this letter finds you well. I can hear your complaint already, “Gordon Freeman, we have not heard from you in ages!” Well, if you care to hear excuses, I have plenty, the greatest of them being I’ve been in other dimensions and whatnot, unable to reach you by the usual means. This was the case until eighteen months ago, when I experienced a critical change in my circumstances, and was redeposited on these shores. In the time since, I have been able to think occasionally about how best to describe the intervening years, my years of silence. I do first apologize for the wait, and that done, hasten to finally explain (albeit briefly, quickly, and in very little detail) events following those described in my previous letter (referred to herewith as Episode 2).”

We won’t spoil more here but rest assured, if you’ve spent the past decade wondering about what happened to Gordon, Alyx, Eli Vance, Dr. Mossman, and The G-Man, this is (some of) the closure you need. Or rather, it is until Valve announces an official, HTC Vive-exclusive Half-Life 3 that renders this all moot. Because that’s totally going to happen.

But for real, it’s been disheartening to see Valve jerk around fans of this series for years as the company clearly pivots to a different, lamer video game business model. So kudos to Laidlaw for using his knowledge and freedom give fans the peace Valve refused to. There’s a reason Heaven is better than Limbo, even if they both involve the death of a loved one. It happened. At last, Half-Life 3 confirmed.